My Week in Dramas 11 August 2023

Not Others, The Mysterious Lotus Casebook

K dramas are inordinately fond of starting at zero with their characters and of course that is a double-edged sword with a character like Eun-mi from Not Others. Her antics are obviously exaggerated for comedic effect but more often than not, subjectively speaking of course, there are unintended effects. The peak tantrum-throwing (“My way or the highway”) in Episode 7 is one of those instances where the hyperbolic nature of the character leaves an unpleasant taste on the mouth of audiences. The role reversal of mother and daughter can be amusing as it has been but there’s a line that can’t be crossed. Flawed characters need a deft touch. Too much and a flawed protagonist inches towards villany.

The entry of Jin-hong, Eun-mi’s first love and Jin-hee’s birth father is meant to complicate matters between mother and daughter. It is framed as such and complicate things it does. But there’s more to it than that. The trio plus bestie Jin-su go off on a last minute weekend trip to Yeosu except that Eun-mi invites Jin-hong along deliberately without informing Jin-hee. A kind of chaos ensues. The Eun-mi kind. Mother and daughter bicker endlessly over where to go and what they should do. The men stand around and watch in uncomfortable silence as the two female characters squabble about where to sightsee. Jin-hong soon discovers the hard way that he should never… never get in the way of their shouting matches.

Eun-mi is especially inconsiderate because she knows that Jin-hee has organized this trip as a mea culpa. But more importantly this is something of a test that she’s set up. Due to her deep-seated abandonment issues Eun-mi tests people routinely. It’s her modus operandi. She pushes their buttons to see how far or how much they can tolerate her — and elicit the degree to which their loyalty can be relied upon. It is a defensive mechanism that is entirely about mitigating risks that she’s fond of leaping into. She sets the agenda and unleashes the scenario on her unsuspecting subjects. In this instance she is sounding Jin-hong out — how far is willing to put up with her. Will he accept her warts and all or make a dash for the exit at the first sign of trouble? No one knows better than Eun-mi herself that she’s got some serious issues with relationships. Of course Eun-mi isn’t the only person who does this. Everyone does it consciously or otherwise but for her it’s something of an artform.

This entire scenario however serves a second purpose. This is a second chance romance after all. Because Jin-hong is also Jin-hee’s dad, it’s an opportunity to connect with the father she never knew. Consequently he is bound to accept her more than any other man in Eun-mi’s life prior to this reunion. I imagine that the dating scene for women in their late forties must be quite limited in scope. Furthermore Eun-mi has been overly dependant on Jin-hee for companionship for goodness knows how long thus restricting the daughter’s capacity to date and develop healthy relationships with men. The number of potential mates for a cop doing shift work can’t be that plentiful either. Romance has been elusive for both women for several reasons but with Jin-hong in the picture, it frees Jin-hee from having to be her mother’s keeper 24/7 and direct her attention elsewhere — an old infatuation I suspect, station chief Eun Jae-won who is having problems of his own. To his seniors he is something of a maverick not unlike Jin-hee herself who is now very much a member of the team that was once wary of her.

It’s clear from the most recent episodes that the show is signalling change in the Kim household. Unlike Eun-mi, Jin-hong is a far more thoughtful and courteous soul. All being well he can be the missing piece of the puzzle of Jin-hee’s life. He is the considerate parent that’s been absent who tells her what she’s always wanted to hear — she’s a good daughter and her mother really does appreciate all that she’s doing.

Eun-mi and Jin-hong’s exercise in contrast though sometimes played for laughs is about how complementary personalities can affect change between two people of goodwill. Eun-mi is less wacky and more circumspect with Jin-hong around. The shy gentle Jin-hong is forced to be more assertive. For the writer this is the romance that had to begin first for reasons already stated so that the other two can come into their own.

The Mysterious Lotus Casebook ended yesterday for those who were willing to pay for that little bit extra for a fast track. For me, I watched the remaining episodes with C subs helped along by my very mediocre Chinese — that’s always much easier once the world building and characters are established.

Helmed by Cheng Yi and Joseph Zeng, this wuxia detective story as it turns out has a decent bad guy plot and an array of characters that we come to appreciate over time. Some remain hostile to the leads’ endeavours while others provide crucial logistical support. Cheng Yi puts in a terrific performance as Li Lianhua (lotus) who was formerly known as the greatest jianghu pugilist Li Xiangyi, a master swordsman, the founder of the Sigu Sect. 10 years earlier after an incident where he was poisoned and almost died in a skirmish, he went into seclusion when a large number of his own sect members died in the clash with Jinyuan Alliance. Remorseful about his own arrogance and hubris, Li Xiangyi changed his name and became a wandering physician reputed to have divine-like medical skills. Li Lianhua as he becomes, is living on borrowed time. The Bicha poison which afflicts him is incurable but the man is determined to find his senior brother’s remains before he finally succumbs to the inevitable. Of course unknown to him this leads him on a rabbit trail of an extinct civilization because someone behind the scenes is trying to revive it.

To be honest it took me some time to warm up to Joseph Zeng’s Fang Duobing who at first seems to be combative on impulse. Some of that was warranted because Li Lianhua plays up his trickster persona with impunity — spinning tall tales at the drop of a hat trying to conceal the true state of his health and his former identity. It’s all quite amusing as he’s at the receiving end of a lot of dramatic irony. Nonetheless the lad has an inkling that Li Lianhua might be holding back. However a lot of Fang Duobing’s hostility towards others comes across like a rather bad case of the terrible twos — picking fights unnecessarily and out of what can only be interpreted as jealousy when others were partial to Li Lianhua. Still he has a decent growth arc and by the time the final showdown takes place most of his bad habits are a thing of the past. At the start he comes across as a bratty rich kid running away from home utterly lacking common sense. After undergoing a series of experiences with Li Lianhua investigating all kinds of murder mysteries, the belligerent newbie grows up enough to be worthy of a princess.

Joining them now and again is Di Feisheng (Xiao Shunyao) leader of the Jinyuan Alliance which is gradually being taken over by the obsessive Jiao Liqiao and her minions. Her goal is to be kingmaker and rule by his side as his bride but all he wants is a fair rematch with Li Xiangyi to determine who is truly the best. That appears to be his only raison d’etre until he discovers that Jiao Liqiao is a serious and maddening obstacle. While all the plotting and scheming is going on in the background, the banter among the trio injects levity into the landscape of murder and mayhem without diminishing the stakes. More than once Di Feisheng comes to Li Lianhua’s aid during the rough and tumble of sleuthing in the tumult of jianghu.

There’s no doubt that Cheng Yi is born to play this role and any role in this genre. He’s an expressive actor who is capable of nuance. His elegance executing fight scenes is one of the show’s highlights. He certainly knows his way around a sword. That said, the star of the show has to be the screenplay which does an excellent juggling act of pulling all the story threads together at the end for the show’s final showdown with the villains of the piece.

To my mind the second half of the show was better than the first which is why in the end, this is an 8.5 out of 10 for me. In those early days Fang Duobing did grate on my nerves and there was a fair bit of clumsy investigation going on while blundered his way around the china shop. I also think that the puzzle hunt though fun (and perhaps necessary to stress the gravity of what’s at stake) lacks polish, and made matters more complicated than they needed to be. That awkward plotting I suspect was in service of a major reveal at the end.

Despite criticism I may have of this, it was a good watch and I could never accuse this show of inducing boredom. Cheng Yi is certainly a stand out and I ended up really appreciating how all the moving parts came together in the end.

As for The Legend of Anle, the less said about that one, the better. I think I’ve wasted enough time, breath and commentary on it.

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